Concern over piglet 'screaming' in distress after falling off cliff
The piglet stuck at the bottom of a cliff at Covehithe beach, which has no access to food or fresh water and cannot get home. - Credit: Graeme Thoburn
Concerns have been raised over the wellbeing of a piglet which has fallen down a cliff and cannot get back to its home.
Graeme Thoburn's wife was walking their dogs on Thursday morning when she saw the piglet on Covehithe beach, on the Suffolk coast.
And on Friday morning he was with her when they saw it again, still stuck at the bottom of the cliff, continually trying and failing to climb back up.
The piglet stuck at the bottom of a cliff at Covehithe beach, which has no access to food or fresh water and cannot get home. - Credit: Graeme Thoburn
Mr Thoburn said: "It was grunting, and yesterday morning when my wife saw it she said it was screaming.
"My dogs went up to it at first so we put them on the lead. I tried to chase it and throw a hoodie over it to catch it and take it back up, but we couldn't get it.
It is believed that the piglet came from the farm at the top of the cliff, but had wandered too far and is now unable to return home.
I'm worried it's going to die a rotten death," Mr Thoburn said. "The farm is just at the top of the cliff and it can remember where it came from because it keeps trying to climb the cliff and falls down."
The piglet stuck at the bottom of a cliff at Covehithe beach, which has no access to food or fresh water and cannot get home. - Credit: Graeme Thoburn
Another helpless hog got stuck in the same area in 2014, when RSPCA rescuers had to pull it from the sea after it made a dash into the waves.
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Mr Thoburn said he and his wife had tried to contact both the farmer and the RSPCA.
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said the farmer had been made aware and that they were making attempts to rescue the piglet.
He said: "If it could just climb the cliff it would be back where it belongs.
"I feel really sad that this poor little pig is in distress. All it needs is for someone to go down with the right equipment and it will be all sorted."
